Blackboard Ultra (Faculty) Accessibility/Ally: Increase the Accessibility of a PDF

Increasing PDF Accessibility with Blackboard Ally

Blackboard Ally is a tool integrated into Blackboard Ultra that provides feedback on the accessibility of course content. It offers guidance on how to improve the accessibility of your documents, including PDFs. By improving accessibility, you make your course materials more usable for all students, including those with disabilities.

Checking the Accessibility Score

After uploading a PDF to your Blackboard Ultra course, Ally automatically checks its accessibility and provides a score. This score is represented by a colored gauge icon next to the file.

• Green: The file is highly accessible.
• Yellow: The file has some accessibility issues.
• Red: The file has significant accessibility issues.

Improving the PDF

To improve the accessibility of a PDF using Blackboard Ally, follow these steps:

1. Locate the PDF in your Blackboard Ultra course.
2. Click the accessibility gauge icon next to the PDF's name. This will open the Ally feedback panel.
3. Review the accessibility checklist provided by Ally. Ally highlights specific issues that need to be addressed.
4. Follow Ally's guidance to correct the issues. Common issues and solutions include:
   • Missing tags: Tags provide structure to the document and allow assistive technologies to understand the content. Use an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) program to recognize the text.
   • Missing alternative descriptions for images: Add alt text to all images to describe their content.
   • Insufficient contrast: Ensure sufficient color contrast between text and background.
   • Untagged tables: Tables should be properly tagged to ensure they are accessible to screen readers.
5. Edit the original PDF using a PDF editor (e.g., Adobe Acrobat Pro). Make the recommended changes within the PDF editor, such as adding alt text to images, adding tags, and improving color contrast.
6. Replace the original PDF in Blackboard Ultra with the updated, accessible PDF. This allows Ally to re-check the file's accessibility score.
7. Confirm the accessibility score has improved. Aim for a green score, indicating high accessibility.

Using Alternative Formats

Blackboard Ally also generates alternative formats of your content, allowing students to choose the format that best suits their needs. These formats are automatically created and available to students alongside the original PDF. 

Need Additional Support?

This guide aims to provide useful information, but as technology changes, interfaces or steps might vary. Please use the Comment button to let us know if anything differs from your experience. Your feedback helps us keep this information accurate. Thank you!